Avenger Assembled

Okay, you guys can go ahead and describe what you're doing as the evening progresses - and what kind of security precautions you're taking.

Everything seemed to go smoothly at first. The various wealthy bigwigs of the Investor Group began arriving at the Convention Center around five on the evening of the fundraiser, letting the valet park their cars as they headed inside under the eyes of a few fashion and high society reporters badgering them with questions and photographs. This wasn't a red carpet event as such, but it wasn't an anonymous business meeting either - everyone was dressed to their best. Even the Iron Talon guards who were here and there looked to be wearing high-end suits over their high-end body armor. Dinner was some high-tech molecular gastronomy provided by one of Cardenas's subsidiaries, a foam that tasted like chicken ala king, a drink that was clearly peas, all very fancy and high-tech. Entertainment was a series of jokes by Cardenas's favorite comedian, a fast-talking middle-aged guy with mirrorshades and slicked-back hair who Predator vaguely recognized as a guy who was in bad favor because of an illicit-but-not-illegal relationship with a lady much younger than him. Cardenas was due to arrive at 7PM, after dinner, after the entertainment, to make sure everyone understood he was the main event. Predator had been able to find that Cardenas was strongly pro-metahuman, particularly science and futurist types himself, though he didn't have a great reputation in the community despite a putative generous nature when it came to funding heroes. His funding tended to have strings attached and so most experienced heroes had put the word out about not actually working with him.

The arms popped free from their restraints, pulling hard enough to snap the leather with cracking sounds that for the moment were covered by the sound of vomiting from the vampire guard. "Hey baby," said Pete, sounding unfocused, "they disarmed you..." It was hard to tell if he'd forgotten about her condition or if he was simply getting dizzier and dizzier from blood loss. "they gave me some shots but no aspirin, sorry baby..." While Rev was herself being drained, it was clear that Pete, with normal red blood, was much more the vampire's cup of tea. If they drank tea. Looking over, Rev could see she'd need to work quickly, the vomiting vampire guard was beginning to compose himself, wiping his face where he'd both vomited and wept tears, muttering something about "stupid metas, should just put them all down..."

You can take 20 and get free but alert the guard; 10 and the guard will notice if they pass their Notice...which they don't! Let me get in there and get you some action.

Okay - give me an Escape Artist check or a Strength check - or both!

"You came in to wash your feet; I was eating a pile of meat, and that as they say was that!" The prompt for this vignette is simple. Your character encounters - and has to deal - with a big pile of meat. So many possibilities! Maybe your hero is sitting down to dinner at the new restaurant in town, about to chow down on the Big Belly meat plate when trouble arises. Maybe you're taking a beach vacation when a giant sea monster washes up and you have to deal with it. Maybe your character works at a butcher's shop and is bonding with their friends as they work a late shift. Maybe your character's newly-developed super-empathy is about to drive you to veganism. Maybe your character has entered a hot dog eating contest - ON WHICH THE FATE OF THE WORLD RESTS. Anyway! Your vignette is due September 30, 2023. (As a reminder, vignettes follow the same general rules as posts in terms of content, player character limits, and so on. You may have only one vignette per player character. Each vignette should be at least one page (~500 words) in length; if posted in your thread counts at the end of the month, it is worth 1pp for the associated character. An especially long vignette, 1000 words or more, may be worth up to 2pp. An occupying image of your character confronting the pile of meat is also worth an extra 1pp. Multiple players can collaborate on a single vignette - we recommend Google Docs for this, it's very useful - but the vignette should be about one page per participating player.) Index Aquaria in [untitled] [link] Bloody Mess in "Messy Blood" [link] Captain Cosmos in "Flipping Burgers" [link] Diamondlight in "The Stomach of Mr. Silk" [link] Echohead in "Meateater MAdness" [link] Flintlock in "Blubber and Rum" [link] Gamma Buzz in "Hot Dog Trap, with Radiation" [link] Haven in "A Feast for the Eye, but Not the Stomach" [link] Horrorshow in "A Monolith of Meat" [link] Lord Steam in "Pile of Meat Pie" [link] Patriot II in "An All-American Cheeseburger" [link] Peak in "Goat Curry" [link] Rev in "Barbeque Storm" [link] Snakebite in "The Meat Grinder" [link] Starshot in "Meat for Meat" [link]

Sometime later: Rev awoke to a world of pain. She was on her back, strapped tightly to a hospital gurney with leather restraint straps that wouldn't have been out of place in a hospital from the previous century - or maybe even the one before that. There was an IV in her arm, a tube filled with her blood going down somewhere she couldn't see. She could feel pain like the aftereffects of sledgehammer blows in her torso and head, especially the latter, which was still ringing. It made her want to vomit; except somebody else was vomiting? Turning her head, she could make out two people in the cell she was being held in. There was an Iron Talon guard, bent over a trash can, retching and vomiting like someone who had eaten the wrong thing. Except the vomit stank of blood and motor oil simultaneously, the look of misery on that white fanged face as effluvia dripped down his chin was downright palpable. The other person in the cell with her, looking pale and wan like a Victorian consumptive, was her old boyfriend Pete Moss. Pete looked like he'd seen better days; his skin almost white, blood visible in his mouth as well as the IV stand he was also connected to. "hey babe," he said dizzily when he saw her stirring, "you made him blow his guts out...knew I liked you..."

OOC: Intimidate, a DC 25 check, this one's a Startle. She'll keep the shield up since there are so many armed goons. She'll close to melee range of Red Death II on this round (goons can't shoot her without hitting their boss, maybe!)

and take an HP!

Sea Devil is the perfect person for this! better stay armored up for it

Okay, the door was no problem! these guys caught you flat-footed so let's say they all hit. Give me 5 DC 25 Tou saves! (there are five of them, obvs)

Rev tore off the cellblock door and charged inside, finding herself immediately faced with a firing line of uniformed Iron Talon troopers. This was a fully-armed and armored SWAT team, and through their visors she could make out red eyes and sharp teeth that told her that these were no ordinary humans. There were other things to see here too; cells clean and bright and white like hospital rooms, inmates strapped to gurneys, and the smell of blood and cleaner, so much of it, mixing together in an unholy tang of copper and ammonia. But the leveled rifles of the vampire hit squad were a much more arresting sight than all of that, anyway. A moment later, they opened fire.

hm - her Impervious should block that, right? Let me know and I'll post IC.

RETURNING STUDENTS Name: Neko Musume Codename: Neko Year: Senior Pronouns: She/Her Prospective Roommate: N/A Goal: Neko wants to fully monetize her burgeoning streaming empire, find her lost family, build ties to this new world, become the most powerful bakeneko in the world, and kill the Crimson Katana. Name: Owain Pendragon Codename: The Copper Knight Year: Senior Pronouns: He/Him Prospective Roommate: N/A Goal: Owain wants to return to Camelot and take his place as his father's heir, he wants to build friendships to last forever, and he wants a boyfriend

Okay - the feat you need is Online Research, if you don't have that go ahead and roll at a -5 penalty. I'll give you guys a post - and move you along - once we have that.

Okay: Does anyone want to help out Exaccus/Mirror Knight by suggesting/helping with a disguise? Echohead: Iron Talon has a spotty reputation; they're flashy but hire erratically. You may be getting the best when you're hiring them, the elite cream of the crop from the military and intelligence. You may also be getting a guy who got addicted to painkillers overseas, turned to crime, and then avoided prison with the help of his friends at Iron Talon. They aren't necessarily evil or bad at their jobs but an Iron Talon job just means you've found a way to keep carrying a gun and do dangerous work while out of uniform. They might be able to put down even a metahuman attack, or they might go for their guns and make things very dangerous. The good news is that they aren't affiliated with any terrorists or metahuman criminal groups; unless you count the US military-industrial establishment. Predator: You can roll Computers (at a penalty unless you have the right feat) or Gather Information.

Did that work?

Okay, it's die roll time! (sorry for the delay here, should have gone out yesterday) - Let's have a STR check for ripping open the door (super-strength does count, naturally) And let's see a Notice check too.

@Spacefurryover the course of your investigation over the next few days, you're able to find several anti-tech metahumans such as the Green Man who might be a potential problem for the protection. There has been a significant increase in anti-tech sentiment in recent years after the Day of Wrath (the time so many heroes were replaced with machines) and the formation of Rurland (the formation of the independent robot nation in eastern Europe). Lawrence will be acting as your liason to Iron Talon, just as Scarlet will be for the NJ state troopers. You and anyone else can also roll for more information

In a series of follow-up meetings, the team spent the next couple of days getting things arranged for Cardonas's visit, a matter complicated by how balky their would-be protectee actually was. Conversing with the heroes by video chat, he was obviously deeply skeptical of any threat against him. "Listen, I hate hippies as much as the next man," he said with bravado that showed his too-white teeth, "but these losers couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag. The real problem?" he added. "is the way the government doesn't want crypto undermining the Fed's control of our way of life..." He went on like that for some time. His head of security, an Iron Talon plainclothes officer named Lawrence, was considerably more professional - though not particularly helpful. Cardonas would be making his speech to the investor group (who were actually called The Investor Group, in a sign that meant they were either too rich to bother with a better name or too boring, same same) at the County Convention Center near the edge of the state forest, giving him some distance from Freedom proper. He'll be landing at Jordan International Airport "to attract maximum publicity" and be taking a motorcade "same, and to show off the latest model of electric Car-Donas" to get to the Center. He'll go in the front door (to make sure they can see him), be the guest of honor at the meeting, give his speech, and then fly in his personal jet back to his corporate headquarters in Albuquerque. The heroes are welcome to be there and Lawrence will be happy to work with them; but they'll need undercover plainclothes identities so that Cardonas's wealthy friends aren't spooked. At this point they'd better get a move on...

Ah sure, let's reroll. https://orokos.com/roll/983937 does 21 hit?

Free: She switches her AP to: Impervious Toughness 8 ('shields up') {8} + Damage 10 (just one laser gun, Extra: Range [Ranged], PFs: Improved Crit, Precise) {8 + 22 = 30/30} Move Action: She feints Red Death 2, that's a DC 25 Bluff check! Standard Action: She shoots Red Death 2 right in her Commie face! she has a total of 18 on the roll, let me know if I need to reroll that (i.e, if she's not flat-footed). If she did hit and got the sneak attack bonus that's DC 27 on the Tou save.

https://orokos.com/roll/982819 Init = 23 Damage 10 ('stun' grenades, Extras: Area [Burst], Range [Ranged], Flaw: Limited [5 Uses Daily], PFs: Reduced Progression 9 [max 10 ft], Variable Descriptor 1 [ballistic/chemical/incendiary]) {30/30} DC 20 Reflex/DC 25 Tou. Edited July 2 by Avenger Assembled

Okay, @Spacefurryand @Nerdzul, last chance for GMish questions before we get into the action

An alarm broke out just as Lexa made a rapid exit from the break room and the oily residue left behind by the incinerated vampire; either from the fire, one of the security cameras in the building, or just the continued sound of her grinding metal implants. Luckily it seemed that Iron Talon internal security wasn't all that it should be; either because numbers had dropped recently or because they were too arrogant to expect internal intruders. There was no going back unless she wanted to try breaking through doors that had audibly locked behind her - there was only forward! Iron Talon recruited from the dregs of the military; those completely unable to find their way in the new world. That meant that they had to make their training material easy to read and understand; that meant that Lexa was able to find a map of the building along the wall further down from the breakroom, right between various patriotic and company messaging that seemed a little silly now. The "holding cells" weren't very far away; down a corridor and through a locked steel door, but she'd have to move quickly - the alarms were blaring loudly now and she could hear movements behind the doors, like heavy machinery being put into place.